19 Things Your Hair Stylist Desperately Wants You To Know

We all love going to the hair salon and getting pampered, gossiping with our hair stylist and leaving with fabulous locks that look and feel amazing.

This feeling is especially wonderful if you’re lucky enough to have waded through the dud stylists and finally found one who gets you and your hair needs on every level. Because there really is nothing worse than asking your hair stylist for “just a trim” and walking out with an above-the-shoulder bob, zebra-highlights, and bangs which just don’t work (we’ve all been there).

To avoid ever having those hair-raising moments, it pays to be in the know about how the pros like to work with their clients. This way, you and your hair stylist will always be on the same page, and your hair will always be on point.

So we asked three professional hair stylists to spill the things they wish every client of theirs knew before walking into their salons. Some of their answers are brutal, but all are essential for avoiding ever being ‘that’ annoying customer…

1. “Please know what you want, or have some kind of idea what you might want, when you come to the appointment. Nothing is more frustrating than you saying “I don’t know what I want, what do you think?”. We can guide you, but you should have some ideas planned.” – Kaitlyn, Desmond and Molly Jones salon

2. “Stick with the same hairdresser. You can’t see a different stylist in between appointments and then think everything will go smoothly next time you’re in. We all work differently and seeing a new stylist will throw off our mojo.” – Mitch, LSG Creative

3. “If your hair is bleached, be patient before a big change. The bleach causes damage, which means to maintain the hair’s integrity, we have to go slow on any big changes, or things won’t look the best when you leave the salon.” – Teah, Eco Chic Hair Boutique

4. “Don’t be late if you can avoid it. Hairdressers work down to the minute, so even if you’re only 10 minutes late, it screws up our entire day and puts us behind. Oh, and we can totally tell when you’re lying about why you’re late, too. Maybe it’s because you have a coffee in your hand?” – Kaitlyn, Desmond and Molly Jones salon

5. “Have realistic expectations about your hairstyle. Remember, a lot of pictures have Photoshop or filtering on them to achieve that perfect look, and others require heaps of upkeep, so that unicorn hair you desperately want might not actually be achievable in everyday life.” – Mitch, LSG Creative

7. “It takes time to learn the personality of the person and their hair before you can really start having fun with it. Once we know how your hair is going to act, we can do drastic, fun things like an all-over color or cool-girl bangs.” – Mitch, LSG Creative

9. “Please don’t use try at home, DIY, ‘miracle’ hair treatments. They don’t work. I’ve seen girls come in and their hair is absolutely ruined because they poured apple cider vinegar on it.” – Kaitlyn, Desmond and Molly Jones salon

10. “If you can see the hair stylist is under pressure, chucking an adult tantrum won’t help you, the stylist, or anyone in the salon. We’re doing the best we can.” –Mitch, LSG Creative

11. “Everyone’s hair is really different and has different thickness, undertones, and other aspects to take into consideration, and so you might not be able to achieve the same results as your bestie who also has brunette hair.” – Mitch, LSG Creative

12. “If you’ve box-dyed your hair, be prepared to have a lot of work done to achieve the color you want. Home hair color is formulated to work on any hair type, so it’s really strong stuff. If you don’t tell us your hair is box-dyed, you could end up with a totally different color than expected when we try to work on it. – Kaitlyn, Desmond and Molly Jones salon

14. “Don’t expect to go from dark brown to blonde in one day unless you want no hair left. or some serious damage.” – Mitch, LSG Creative

15. “If we say we need to take off a certain amount of length, we need to take off that much length. We don’t cut hair shorter than it needs to be, or the client wants it to be, for fun, we know what we’re doing.” – Kaitlyn, Desmond and Molly Jones salon

18. “When we recommend a product, contrary to popular belief, we’re not just doing it to make money for the salon – we’re telling you what product will benefit your hair, and keep you looking fabulous for the longest amount of time.” – Teah, Eco Chic Hair Boutique

19. “Styling hair properly is going to cost money. We aren’t trying to rip you off, but if you want a good job done, you need to be prepared to pay for it.” – Mitch, LSG Creative